Wednesday, February 04, 2015

With every book I write, I discover something about
the culture I’m researching which completely blows me away, often because it’s
so unusual and something I’ve never encountered before. In the case of my book,
REBEL QUEEN, set in India during the British invasion, the concept of Janam
Kundlis struck a chord with me, particularly since Janam Kundlis very nearly
played a role in my own life and my marriage to my husband, who is Indian.

Also known as an astrological chart, a Janam Kundli
is made by a priest for each child in India. No one is sure when the concept of
a Janam Kundli came to be, but as Vedic astrology is several thousand years
old, it’s not surprising that my protagonist’s Janam Kundli would have looked
similar to my husband’s,­ even though they were born more than a hundred years
apart. A person’s Janam Kundli includes the details of their birth– time, date,
planetary alignments. It also includes other things which aren’t so common in
the West, such as that person’s probable future career and who they were in
their most recent past life (in my husband’s case, a yogi!).

cover of Janam Kundli

Janam Kundli (inside) - this is Michelle's husbands

Reading a person’s natal chart is serious business.
Once a person’s Janam Kundli is created, they will keep that document with them
for life, producing it when it’s time for marriage. Even today, Janam Kundlis
are used to make prospective matches between brides and grooms throughout
India, where the majority of marriages are arranged. And woe betide anyone
whose Janam Kundli declares them to be a manglik, or a bad-luck person. If that’s
the case, as it was for the famous Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, one of two options are
available. You can either marry another manglik, thus canceling out your
bad-luck status, or you can hire a priest to conduct a variety of ceremonies
that will make it possible to marry someone who isn’t a manglik like yourself.
This last option, however, is only available if the non-manglik person’s family
finds the risk acceptable. In Aishwarya
Rai’s case, her in-laws obviously felt the “risk” was worth it, and in
2007 she married a tree before she married her husband, thereby canceling out
her bad-luck in this way.

Why a tree? Well, this was something I very nearly
discovered myself when my own Janam Kundli was made. Apparently, like Aishwarya Rai, I too am probably a manglik, meaning
marriage for me would most likely end in the divorce or death of my spouse. I
say probably because my Janam Kundli was done online. The
effect, however, was very nearly the same. Major discussions took place as to
whether I would need to marry a tree before the wedding could proceed, or
whether my Janam Kundli should be discounted since I am not, after all, Indian,
and my Janam Kundli hadn’t “officially” been made by a priest.

In the end, it was decided that my husband
should take the risk and go for it. I never had to marry a tree or even choose
among a variety of clay urns for my groom. Either option, apparently, is
acceptable, as it’s believed that a person’s manglik dosh can be canceled out
if the manglik person’s bad luck is spent on the first marriage. Thus, the
bride first marries a clay urn or a tree, then either breaks the clay urn or chops
down her tree-husband in order to become a “widow” (in some places, the tree is
allowed to survive). After this, the second marriage is ready to proceed
without a hitch.

There are varying interpretations of this
ceremony, and even though it didn’t end up affecting me, a person’s Janam
Kundli can alter their destiny, just as I describe in the beginning of REBEL
QUEEN. It’s cultural gems like these which make researching historical fiction
such a pleasure, and it’s these type of details which I try to include in each
of my books. As a writer, my hope is that they pique the reader’s interest
along the way, and as a reader,
they are the sort of facts which help ground me in another place and time.

REBEL QUEEN is due for release 3rd March 2015 and to celebrate Michelle is generously offering an autographed copy to one lucky reader of my blog along with a beautiful bangle from India.

When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the 1850s, it expects a quick and easy conquest. After all, India is not even a country, but a collection of kingdoms on the subcontinent. But when the British arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, expecting its queen to forfeit her crown, they are met with a surprise. Instead of surrendering, Queen Lakshmi raises two armies—one male, one female—and rides into battle like Joan of Arc. Although her soldiers are little match against superior British weaponry and training, Lakshmi fights against an empire determined to take away the land she loves.

Told from the perspective of Sita, one of the guards in Lakshmi's all-female army and the queen’s most trusted warrior, The Last Queen of India traces the astonishing tale of a fearless ruler making her way in a world dominated by men. In the tradition of her bestselling novel Nefertiti, which Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, called “a heroic story with a very human heart,” Michelle Moran once again brings a time and place rarely explored in historical fiction to rich, vibrant life.

28 comments:

I enjoy reading about strong women in eras and/or situations where that is not expected, women like the British warrior Boudicca, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The Empress Teodosia is another one. This novel sounds great. Thanks for the giveaway.lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)dom

What an interesting book and also Michelle's explanation of Janam Kundli! Strong women - well, I've always liked Queen Esther from the Bible and I'll also mention Eleanor Roosevelt as a more contemporary woman.

Being Sri Lankan, I do know that horoscopes matching is an important part of the marriage ritual, though religious ceremonies are used to offset the malignant forces here! Count me in for the giveaway please.

The Janam Kundli - what an amazing background to it, fascinating. Books like these open us up to the intricacies of other cultures. I'm not that much into history but on reflection I'll just go back a little ways and say Kate Sheppard from NZ who was the leader in the women's suffrage movement here.

To marry a tree? mmm okay... The first strong woman that comes to mind is Eleanor of Aquitaine and Katherine of Aragon. Very different women but strong in their own way.Thank you for the giveaway!crimson_haze(at)hotmail(dot)com

Janam Kundlis - absolutely fascinating! I like how you can approach it practically by marrying a tree or urn first and getting rid of the bad luck. My favourite historical female character? It would have to be Cleopatra ...

Hmm, hard to pick just one favorite woman from history. I can't help thinking of Joan of Arc and her amazing story but I also really like Eleanor of Aquitaine, especially as portrayed by Katherine Hepburn in the film The Lion in Winter. If anyone hasn't seen it they should check it out. +2 - I tweeted a link to this post: https://twitter.com/carlrscott/status/563366071139188736Thanks

Favorite female historic figure: Alice Paul, chairperson of the National Women's Party in the 1920s in the U.S.-- a very important leader in the women's rights movement in America. Arguably more important than Susan B. Anthony. I learned about her when I took sociology college courses a few years ago. Thanks for the giveaway chance--this post was just fascinating to me!

himy favorite war the rani laxmi bai who fought britishers with he son tied to hew waist and died fighting,my mother used to tell stories of herthanks https://booksportablemagic.wordpress.comsunnakshibhatia15@ymail.com

Agatha Christie; her work has inspired all sorts of books, movies, television programs and even me in my own writings. The work she did was, and still is, truly incredible.https://twitter.com/Cattereia/status/564453697590411264cattsy.goldfinch(at)gmail(dot)com(at) = @(dot) = .

I knew of the importance of birth charts even though my family isn't Hindu but I hadn't heard about that practice of marrying a tree or clay pot to break the bad luck and I had no idea that Aishwariya Rai had to do that before her marriage.

I loved Rebel Queen. I thought it was a fantastic book and really fascinating. I wasn't familiar with the story of the Rani of Jhansi before I read it. I hope you enjoy it too. I am a big fan of Michelle's books too. My favorite is Cleopatra's Daughter but this one is a close second.